Re: Pandemic Plan

In Reply to: Pandemic Plan posted by Susan on July 04, 2006 at 20:08:27:

: I have been given the task of writing a pandemic contigency plan for my company (we have no prior contingency plans, which I am sure I will eventually be writing)...Now the fun part is that this is due by the end of July (i was given the task last month)...Yes I know...Can anyone suggest a simple layout of a pandemic contingency plan (please not a 100 pager)...my company is a software company...Please and thank you for any help....: Susan

:Susan,

I copied this from the Rothstein New Letter some time ago. It might help:

MAKING PLANS FOR AN INFLUENZA PANDEMIC

With all the “chatter” going on regarding a potential influenza pandemic, many experts are offering their recommendations on how to deal with this threat. BUSINESS SURVIVAL has been searching various resources, and we’ve identified two that should be of interest to you. The first is the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), a name most of you already know. The second is Protective Countermeasures & Consulting, which is probably a new name for you. PCC is an advisory services firm based in New Rochelle, NY that specializes in security, counter terrorism, and crisis management. Business Survival is pleased to offer you pandemic planning guidelines from the CDC, and a list of questions regarding pandemics from Protective Countermeasures.

The first selection is from the CDC’s Business Influenza Pandemic Planning Checklist. Obtain further information at www.pandemicflu.gov and www.cdc.gov/business.

Plan for the impact of a pandemic on your business1. Identify a pandemic coordinator and/or team with defined roles and responsibilities for preparedness and response planning. The planning process should include input from labor representatives.2. Identify essential employees and other critical inputs (e.g. raw materials, suppliers, subcontractor services, products, and logistics) required to maintain business operations by location and function during a pandemic.3. Train and prepare ancillary workforce (e.g. contractors, employees in other job titles/descriptions, retirees).4. Develop and plan for scenarios likely to result in an increase or decrease in demand for your products and/or services during a pandemic (e.g. effect of restriction on mass gatherings, need for hygiene supplies).5. Determine potential impact of a pandemic on company business financials using multiple possible scenarios that affect different product lines and/or production sites.6. Determine potential impact of a pandemic on business-related domestic and international travel (e.g. quarantines, border closures).7. Find up-to-date, reliable pandemic information from community public health, emergency management, and other sources and make sustainable links.8. Establish an emergency communications plan and revise periodically. This plan includes identification of key contacts (with back-ups), chain of communications (including suppliers and customers), and processes for tracking and communicating business and employee status.9. Implement an exercise/drill to test your plan, and revise periodically.

Plan for the impact of a pandemic on your employees and customers1. Forecast and allow for employee absences during a pandemic due to factors such as personal illness, family member illness, community containment measures and quarantines, school and/or business closures, and public transportation closures.2. Implement guidelines to modify the frequency and type of face-to-face contact (e.g., hand shaking, seating in meetings, office layout, shared workstations) among employees and between employees and customers (refer to CDC recommendations).3. Encourage and track annual influenza vaccination for employees.4. Evaluate employee access to and availability of healthcare services during a pandemic, and improve services as needed.5. Evaluate employee access to and availability of mental health and social services during a pandemic, including corporate, community, and faith-based resources, and improve services as needed.6. Identify employees and key customers with special needs, and incorporate the requirements of such persons into your preparedness plan.

Establish policies to implement in a pandemic1. Establish policies for employee compensation and sick leave absences unique to a pandemic (e.g., non-punitive, liberal leave), including policies on when a previously ill person is no longer infectious and can return to work after illness.2. Establish policies for flexible worksite (e.g. telecommuting) and flexible work hours (e.g., staggered shifts).3. Establish policies for preventing influenza spread at the worksite (e.g. promoting respiratory hygiene/cough etiquette, and prompt exclusion of people with influenza symptoms).4. Establish policies for employees who are exposed to pandemic influenza, are suspected to be ill, or become ill at the worksite (e.g., infection control response, immediate mandatory sick leave).5. Establish policies for restricting travel to affected geographic areas (consider both domestic and international sites), evacuating employees working in or near an affected area when an outbreak begins, and guidance for employees returning from affected areas (refer to CDC travel recommendations).6. Set up authorities, triggers, and procedures for activating and terminating the company's response plan, altering business operations (e.g., shutting down operations in affected areas), and transferring business knowledge to key employees.

Allocate resources to protect your employees and customers during a pandemic1. Provide sufficient and accessible infection control supplies (e.g., hand-hygiene products, tissues and receptacles for their disposal) in all business locations.2. Enhance communications and information technology infrastructures as needed to support employee telecommuting and remote customer access.3. Ensure availability of medical consultation and advice for emergency response.

Communicate to and educate your employees1. Develop and disseminate programs and materials covering pandemic fundamentals (e.g., signs and symptoms of influenza, modes of transmission), personal and family protection and response strategies (e.g., hand hygiene, coughing/sneezing etiquette, contingency plans).2. Anticipate employee fear and anxiety, rumors and misinformation and plan communications accordingly.3. Ensure that communications are culturally and linguistically appropriate.4. Disseminate information to employees about your pandemic preparedness and response plan.5. Provide information for the at-home care of ill employees and family members.6. Develop platforms (e.g., hotlines, dedicated websites) for communicating pandemic status and actions to employees, vendors, suppliers, and customers inside and outside the worksite in a consistent and timely way, including redundancies in the emergency contact system.7. Identify community sources for timely and accurate pandemic information (domestic and international) and resources for obtaining counter-measures (e.g., vaccines and antivirals).

Coordinate with external organizations and help your community1 Collaborate with insurers, health plans, and major local health care facilities to share your pandemic plans and understand their capabilities and plans.2. Collaborate with federal, state, and local public health agencies and/or emergency responders to participate in their planning processes, share your pandemic plans, and understand their capabilities and plans.3. Communicate with local and/or state public health agencies and/or emergency responders about the assets and/or services your business could contribute to the community.4. Share best practices with other businesses in your communities, chambers of commerce, and associations to improve community response efforts.

Planning for a Pandemic - General1. Have you developed a pandemic response plan?2. Have you created a pandemic response team?3. Do the team members have clearly defined roles?4. Have you exercised your plan?5. Have all areas of your business been included in the planning process?6. Are all levels of your workforce included in the planning process?7. Are OSHA guidelines referenced or addressed in your planning? 8. Have multilateral health organizations been consulted, e.g., CDC?9. Have your plans been approved by corporate management?10. Do your plans incorporate the latest available information?11. Have you addressed individual department plans?12. Are you in a multi-tenant facility or a self-contained facility (risk of infection is greater in a multi-tenant facility)?13. Have you established recovery plans for technology and systems?14. Have you established recovery plans for mission-critical business units?15. Who is in your chain of command?16. Who in the chain of command can declare a pandemic response?17. Who can substitute for this person if he/she is ill?18. Have you established a plan for contacting family members and/or employees away from the organization (at home, on vacation, etc.)?19. Have you considered the operational and economic impact of a pandemic?20. Have you evaluated your budget in accordance with pandemic planning?21. Do you have multiple copies of your plan?22. How will supplies and essential products be delivered to employees at a recovery site?23. Does your plan provide for logistical support (food, beverages, etc) for pandemic teams?24. Does your plan assign operational support for the Pandemic Response Team?25. Does your plan indicate the location of the EOC?26. Does your plan provide for a backup EOC site?27. Does your plan provide transportation to the backup EOC site?

Policy Issues in a Pandemic Incident1. Have you incorporated plans for the rapid recruitment of additional workers?2. Does your staff know who to report incidents to?3. Does your response plan support telecommuting?4. Does your plan consider employee compensation?5. Have you considered employee sick leave or other absences?6. Does your plan also consider family issues?7. Does your plan consider PR before/after the crisis?8. Does your plan identify a line of succession for key positions at the facility?9. Do employees understand their roles and responsibilities in a pandemic response plan?10. Does your plan identify how to implement resource controls?11. Does your plan identify how to preserve essential records?12. Does your plan provide for the backup of essential records at an offsite location?13. Does your plan identify a specific team member responsible for monitoring the effects of the pandemic on the facility?14. Does your plan identify a specific team member responsible for reporting the effects of the pandemic on the facility?15. Does your plan identify a specific team member responsible for documenting an event log regarding the effects of the pandemic?

Protecting Employees During a Pandemic1. Do you encourage staff to receive flu shots?2. Do you provide funding to pay for employee annual flu shots?3. Can your company provide flu shots on site?4. Do you have sufficient medical supplies for key staff, e.g., vaccines, masks, antivirals, gloves?5. Do you have proper sanitizing equipment?6. Do you have hand sanitizers in common areas?7. Does your facility have an evacuation procedure?8. Does your plan indicate who is responsible for issuing evacuation/quarantine orders for the facility? When they should be issued? 9. Do your evacuation procedures work in conjunction with neighboring businesses?